Canada 1998-1999: Honda Civic up #1 passenger car

The Honda Civic is the best-selling passenger car in Canada in 1998 and 1999.

The Canadian new light vehicle market edges down -0.1% year-on-year in 1998 to 1.393.029. This year Ford (-14.5%) is in great difficulty and sees its share thaw from 20.1% to 17.2%, however Chevrolet (-8.7%) also loses grip, going from 15.8% to 14.4%. Dodge (+7.5%) on the other hand improves to 11.6% while Toyota (+19.2%) and Honda (+12.3%) round up the Top 5 in spectacular fashion, relegating Pontiac (-7.7%) to #6. Volkswagen (+52.2%) is up 4 spots to break into the Canadian Top 10 for the first time this decade.

In the models ranking, the Ford F-Series (-7.5%) secures a 5th consecutive win but the real winner this year is the Honda Civic (+9.6%) leapfrogging past the Dodge Caravan (-2.6%), Ford Windstar (-7.3%) and Chevrolet Cavalier (-12.3%) to land in 2nd place overall for the first time since 1991. The Civic also becomes the best-selling passenger car in Canada for the first time. It has kept this title ever since, clocking 21 consecutive years on top as of 2018. The Toyota Corolla (+19.4%) breaks into the Top 10 at #7 and #4 passenger car.

In 1999, new light vehicle sales in Canada soar 8.2% to cross the 1.5 million annual mark for what is believed to be the first time in history at 1.506.926 units. Ford (+8.1%) matches the market at 17.2% share while Chevrolet (+6.1%) can’t quite do the same at 14.2% but Dodge (+12.7%) improves again to 12.1%, its highest level this decade. Toyota (+1%) remains in 4th place but Pontiac (+22.5%) is back above Honda (+11%) at #5 overall. Mazda (+44.9%) is up 3 spots to return inside the Top 10 at #9, with Nissan (+11.5%) and Volkswagen (+11.2%) also very dynamic. Hyundai (+31.3%) is up to #12 and Oldsmobile (+51%) up to #13.

Model-wise, the Ford F-Series (+6.6%) is #1 for the 6th straight year while the Dodge Caravan (+43.1%) is back above the Honda Civic (+7.5%) to #2 overall. Below, the Ford Windstar (+15%), Chevrolet Cavalier (+15.4%), Pontiac Sunfire (+14%), Toyota Corolla (+2.1%) and GMC Sierra (-6.5%) hold onto their 1998 ranking while the Chevrolet Silverado (+229.9%) ends its first full year of sales inside the Top 10 at #9, joined by the Dodge Ram (-12%).

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Full Year 1998 and 1999 Top 36 All-brands and Top 215 All-models vs. previous year figures below.